Smokepaw's Journey
by PixieStoryteller
Summary: Ever wonder why the apprentice Smokepaw fell into a chasm in the book Dawn and then reappeared in the character list in the next book? Well, let me tell you, it is a harrowing story, and you really ought to know about it.  first Fanfic... please be nice
1. Prologue

"Nooooooo!"

Smokepaw scrabbled desperately at the rough edge of the cliff face before him. He had to get a hold!

But no, even as he tried to grab hold, his paws were slipping away into nothingness. The last thing he saw was Russetfur's face peering over the edge, having tried in vain to reach him in time.

And then, he was falling, falling, falling, the air whistling through his fur as he continued his descent into the chasm.

For a moment he instinctively reached his paws down to grab onto something, but there was nothing to grab hold of.

Then suddenly, there was a loud thud! and he really was thrown into nothingness...

...

"No!" snarled a voice, as a black tom scratched at the rough terrain beneath his paws, which were covered with stars, "Not now! Not when Shadowclan needs its strength!"

"Calm yourself, Nightstar..." said a voice.

A regal looking blue-grey she-cat, whose muzzle was frosted with white, stepped from the swirling of fog. The Starclan cats had been wandering this mist ever since they left their old home and who knew when they would come out of it.

Nightstar glared at Bluestar, who was the cat that had spoken. Bluestar returned the gaze steadily.

"Yours is not the only clan that suffers for want of apprentices." she said, brows knitting together in worry.

"Smokepaw was different!" Nightstar snapped, then he sighed, looking down, "He is my daughter's son..."

Bluestar jerked her head up at this, and her eyes filled with compassion. She knew what it meant to watch your kin die below... She had, after-all, witnessed Stonefur's death. She frowned in thought, wishing she could help, when:

"There is a way..." she said thoughtfully, looking up at the swirling blackness that surrounded them.

Nightstar looked up at Bluestar, hope dawning in his expression.

"Yes," he said, sounding excited, "Yes, yes there is!"

"But he will be _your _responsibility." Bluestar said, seriousness in her gaze.

"Of course." Nightstar said, calming down now that a course of action had been presented to him.

Bluestar nodded and turned to pad away, disappearing into the darkness which swirled where she had last stood.

Nighstar remained behind, frowning down into a small pool in whose depths the image of a cat was reflected, a cat whose destiny was about to be taken in paw by Starclan itself.


	2. Chapter 1

Slowly, Smokepaw blinked open his eyes, this wasn't the apprentices' den. Where was Talonpaw? and where were the soft, spongy pine needles that always lined his nest. All he could feel was hard rock beneath him and wind whistling through his fur.

Then, slowly, memories started to trickle, then pour into his mind: his nest was destroyed along with the rest of his camp; the journey begun with all four clans; the hunger and thirst and cold; then the memory of the fall came to him, and he groaned.

Was he in Starclan? or perhaps, even worse, somewhere else? He forced his eyes to open wider: he was on the edge of a small precipice, his paws splayed out, but not at odd angles.

Well, he was pretty sure he wasn't dead, but that would be useless if he couldn't move. How could he have fallen all that way without a broken bone?

He tried to move and then groaned again.

I sure wish Littlecloud were here. He thought.

The small medicine cat would have been able to tell Smokepaw what was wrong with him. But since he was not, Smokepaw would have to figure that out by himself.

He began moving one paw at a time and found that none of his limbs had actually broken.

Then why does it hurt so much? He asked himself, How is it possible that I can't have gotten killed from that fall...

Wait, he had asked that question before... To Littlecloud himself actually: Smokepaw and Talonpaw had been brand-new apprentices then and Talonpaw had dared Smokepaw to climb one of the few large trees in the territory.

Smokepaw had known that it wouldn't be a good idea, but he couldn't let Talonpaw think that he was scared, especially because he wasn't. As Smokepaw climbed from branch to branch; he had noticed that even though he was still a small cat, his little weight was making the pine branches sway ominously. Finally, he had climbed one branch too far and with a snap had been plunged straight to the ground. When he next opened his eyes, Smokepaw had been face to face with Littlecloud who told him that he would be alright.

At the time, however, Smokepaw had had a hard time believing Littlecloud. When he moved, his body ached in the same way that it did now, and he had asked Littlecloud what was the matter. Littlecloud had said that it was stiffness in the limbs for taking in so much of an impact. He had assured Smokepaw that he would be up and running around again soon. Smokepaw remembered that Littlecloud had said that he hadn't gotten any sprained or broken limbs because he was such a young cat at the time.

Even though this relieved him slightly, Smokepaw frowned as well. The fall from the cliff must have been a greater fall then from that tree. He craned his neck upwards with difficulty and pain: he couldn't even see the spot from which he had fallen. There was only mist swirling above.

Still, as Smokepaw moved his legs a little more, it was clear to him that he had not undergone any really serious damage. Smokepaw shook his head. It wasn't his right to question why it had happened; what he needed to worry about was what he was going to do about it.

Now that he knew that he would be alright soon, once the initial stiffness disappeared, the young apprentice turned his thoughts back to the actual fall.

How long had he actually been out?

Were his clan-mates looking for him?

Smokepaw knew the answer to that last question. There was no way that his clan could have known that he had survived that fall. He himself hadn't thought that he would. Plus, there was no way that any cat would stop and risk its life looking for the body of a dead cat. So Smokepaw's clan must have moved on without him.

Fear gripped Smokepaw as he thought of being completely alone on the side of the mountain, but he quickly shook it away. He knew that he had to find his clan, and he couldn't do that if he started playing the lost and frightened kit. He had had a great mentor, Oakfur, who had taught him everything from hunting to fighting other cats and even foxes and badgers. He could survive on this, he knew. He had even convinced Tawnypelt, the cat who had been through the mountains before, to teach him some hunting moves that he could use in the mountains.

Something suddenly drew Smokepaw's attention away from his own thoughts: wing beats, big ones, and a huge shadow that passed over him.

Smokepaw lifted his head weakly and terror flooded him when he saw a huge bird descending upon him. He had heard Tawnypelt tell the other cats about huge birds that could eat cats if they weren't careful. He had to get to safety.

Smokepaw ignored the pain as he swung his head quickly around to scan the area. There! there was a cleft in the rock so low over the precipice that Smokepaw had to struggle to wriggle himself under it.

He got there just in time, the next thing he knew was there were scrabbling sounds just in front of him and he saw a pare of lethal talons scraping the place he had just been laying a moment before. Then there was an angry screech which pierced Smokepaw's ears and then more wing beats. The eagle took a couple more passes at Smokepaw's hiding place, talons reaching in. Smokepaw took a quick jab at bird's leg, feeling his claw scrap again bony flesh. There was another screech and then the sound of fading wing beats as the creature gave up.

Smokepaw waited a few moments more, trying catch his breath when he suddenly heard more scrabbling, but on a smaller scale. The next moment, a tiny grey ball of fur shot toward the back of Smokepaw's hiding place.

Instinctively, Smokepaw whipped out his paw and just caught the mouse by the end of its tail. The terrified creature jerked its head around and sank its little teeth into Smokepaw's paw. Smokepaw ground his teeth against the agony, but held on, fury building up against the tiny creature who dared hurt him.

"You'll pay for that!" he growled hoarsely.

Smokepaw bent forward and bit the mouse in the neck, snapping it. As he relaxed, Smokepaw realised that he had just caught some food. He hastily licked that small wound in his own paw and then ate up his catch.

Afterwards he felt much more comfortable, the mouse was warm in his belly. He thought about trying to sleep for a little bit, but he also thought he ought to figure out a way to at least get back to the place where he had fallen. The mere idea of climbing up the jagged mountain side made him almost feel like despairing. Instead, however, Smokepaw gritted his teeth, determined to do whatever it took to get back to his clan. He knew that they would need him, and he knew that giving up would be just like being a deserter or even a traitor to his clan. He would climb up that cliff even if it was the last thing he would do!

_But I can't do that if I'm too weak to get up_, he thought, exhaustion clouding his mind and his eyes drooping from shock and sudden movement, _I'll just rest for a while and then figure things out._

It wasn't long before his eyes closed and Smokepaw was asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

Smokepaw finally awoke in the dark which at first paralyzed him with fear until he could remember that he was only under the cleft. The next thing he knew he would have to do was get out into the open again, bird or no bird. He was just able to struggle out, which was still a little painful because of his aching limbs, though not as painful as it had been earlier. He felt pleased about this, almost as if he had helped himself to recover.

When he had made it onto the precipice, he realized for the first time how hopeless his situation was, having no clan to protect him and no real idea of how far he had fallen or, at the moment, really, which way was up. Everything was pitch black, and for this reason, though his paws itched to get going, he finally decided that he had better go back into his little hideout and rest. He was disappointed that another mouse didn't come scampering by, but he chided himself for having expected it. As if a mouse will just run right into your mouth whenever you want it to... Still... it would have been nice.

He especially wished to find prey when he woke up again in the early dawn. He sniffed around his little hide out, but the scent of mouse was stale, and he was pretty sure it was just the one mouse that he had found already. He scrabbled out of his "nest", though he didn't really think it deserved that name, it wasn't very comfortable, and then padded around the precipice, still searching for prey. He found nothing.

He would have liked to have just sat there and complained about how unfair StarClan was for putting him there without anything to help him out, but he knew that that would be useless. He had to find his clan.

So the next thing that he did was try to find a way up; again, he wasn't sure exactly how far he had fallen, but he was sure he would be able to smell when he had reached where the clans had traveled.

After some exploration, he finally found a small ledge just to the left side of his temporary resting place which went upward. He scrambled up onto it, feeling a sudden surge of hope and excitement. He was going to make it! He was going to find ShadowClan! He was going to get home.

This positive mood didn't last long as he couldn't find another ledge that led straight up. Instead, he had to be satisfied with a ledge to his left which was only a mouse-tail higher then the one he'd just found. At first, Smokepaw just gritted his teeth and padded onto the next one, but then he found that there was neither a foothold next to it, nor above it and he would have to go down ward.

At least in this adventure he was more successful, but he was beginning to feel lost, and dizzy, and thirsty, and above all: hungry. He hadn't so much as spotted the shadow of a mouse during his climb. Finally, Smokepaw stopped on a ledge, not sure how far or in which direction he was from the original place that he had started from. He looked around him, irritated to only be surrounded by swirls of mist.

A despairing sigh escaped Smokepaw's mouth because no matter how much he gritted his teeth, he was beginning to believe that he really wouldn't be able to make it out of these cursed mountains. Smokepaw flopped down onto his belly, eyes half closed, waiting for something to happen; and it did.

At first he didn't hear it: it was so faint. Slowly, the rhythmic sound became louder and finally, Smokepaw heard it. He jerked his head up eyes wide as the huge form of the bird came soaring down toward him. Instantly, Smokepaw's mind began working: he didn't have a ledge to hide under this time, but there was a ledge just above him!

Smokepaw leaped up, shaking off the dizziness that was due to a mix of hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, and turned, just about to leap onto the ledge.

_Wait..._

Smokepaw's eyes widened, that had not been him. He looked from side to side.

"Wh-who's there!" he yowled, his voice hoarse from disuse, then more desperately, "Help!"

_Wait, prepare for the right moment..._

Suddenly, Smokepaw recognized that voice, it was Oakfur! His mentor! What was he doing? Teaching him?

_Smokepaw, what did I tell you about birds?_

A different, but still familiar voice: Tawnypelt. Smokepaw jerked his head up again, searching the sky for the eagle. It was there, hovering; what was it waiting for?

_Ok, ok_, Smokepaw began thinking hard, glancing up repeatedly, _A strong cat can kill a bird, but you got to wait for the right moment..._

A shudder filled and froze Smokepaw with terror as he watched the beast above drop into a dive, aimed right at him.

_Now Smokepaw!_

Smokepaw gave a huge leap, ignoring the dizziness that threatened to clog his mind; he balanced unsteadily on the edge of the ledge just as the bird came nearly crashing into the ledge where he'd been standing only a few moments before.

_Attaaaack!_

Without thinking, Smokepaw leaped onto the bird's back, claws unsheathed and furious yowl erupted rasping from his throat.

_Hook your claw in its neck before it leaps off!_

Smokepaw leaped forward, clumsy from dizzy delight at still being alive and enthusiasm at the possibility of a meal. Instead of neatly killing the beast with a well-aimed scratch, Smokepaw ended up landing on the eagle's head, smashing it into the ground with a sickening crack and then flipped over the head toward the edge.

Before he'd reached it, however, a dozen colored spots obscured his vision and then Smokepaw was suddenly wrenched into darkness.

...

Smokepaw found himself surrounded by darkness; the air was cool yet moist and there were strange swirls of fog which seemed to contain many living things. Smokepaw shook his head: it was clear! All the dizziness, hunger, everything that was bothering him was gone! Smokepaw frowned. Where was he?

Suddenly, a more solid shape began padding toward him out of the darkness. It was a figure which seemed to almost blend with the swirling darkness, and yet it was different. There were stars in its pelt.

Smokepaw's eyes widened as the figure stopped before him.

"Nightstar!" he yowled, amazed, hastily dipping his head in respect.

A small smile appeared on the old tom's muzzle.

"Welcome, Smokepaw," he said, but then his voice turned more serious, and his smile evaporated, "But you must return."

Smokepaw blinked. Return? Return where? Back to the ledge with the demon bird? Back to dizziness and hunger and thirst? Smokepaw's initial excitement deserted him. He glared at Nightstar and raised his chin stubbornly.

"Why?" he asked, a belligerent spark in his eye, "Why should I go back if I'm only going to die? I'm dead here anyway, why shouldn't I just stay?"

"No!" Nightstar snapped, an edge of anger and frustration in his voice, "I didn't save you for nothing, Smokepaw; You'll go back, you'll serve your clan. You have an important destiny to fulfill, Smokepaw, because you have been blessed by Starclan!"

Smokepaw blinked, his irritation melting in surprised confusion.

"Wait," he said, a searching look in his eyes, "It was you that saved me? Back there? when I fell?"

"And it was I that was with you a moment ago," Nightstar said patiently, "reminding you of your former apprentice lessons that you might over come the bird."

Again Smokepaw was angry.

"But why?" he snapped, eyes dark with fury, "Why'd you let me fall in the first place! Why didn't you help me find food? Why did you let me get thirsty and why can't I get to the place I started from?"

Nightstar's eyes, at first steely with anger, now melted into pools of compassion.

"You were meant to die, Smokepaw," he said in a low voice, "You were supposed to join us in this endless void. But I couldn't allow that. You can do so much, Smokepaw, I saw your potential. You must return to Shadowclan; I will do my best to help you, but I cannot do much.

"Now go," Nightstar said, "Never forget that you are blessed by Starclan, and to Starclan you owe your loyalty."

"But first to Shadowclan," Smokepaw said, the fire of determination lighting in his eyes again, "I won't let you down, Nightstar."

The smile returned to Nightstar's face, a proud look which filled Smokepaw with confidence.

"I know you won't..." Nightstar's voice was whispering, fading away along with his body and with all of the strange surroundings.

They were all melting into the true darkness which was surrounding Smokepaw, clinging to him, making it hard to breath until finally nothing remained.

...

Suddenly Smokepaw awoke and jerked his head up.

"Nightstar?" he yowled, seeing that he was still surrounded by darkness.

Nothing answered except for was moist coldness that fell on his nose. Smokepaw scrambled up, stumbling slightly since he was still worn by his hunger and thirst. He looked around, allowing his eyes to get used to the darkness.

Rain! He suddenly realized, excitement filling his chest.

Indeed, rain was pouring down around him, quickly making small puddles which were growing. Smokepaw leaped over to one and lapped up its contents eagerly, his tail bumping into something behind him.

Instantly on his guard, Smokepaw whipped around to face whatever had sneaked up behind him. To his horror, a huge black shape was before him. Smokepaw froze, waiting for the creature to attack, sniffing the air, trying to smell what it was. It smelled like... Bird?

Suddenly Smokepaw remembered his battle with the eagle and realized that this was the bird he'd killed. His eyes widened. It was massive! How in the name of Starclan had he...

Smokepaw blinked, and suddenly his paws began to tingle as a grin played across his muzzle. How in the name of Starclan indeed.

Smokepaw padded up to the giant piece of fresh-kill and looked up to Starclan. But it wasn't a prayer of thanks he sent, it was a promise.

"I won't let you down, Nightstar," he murmured, eyes glittering with confidence and determination, "You'll see."

And with that, Smokepaw tucked into his feast, ready to get on with his journey.


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! It was so neat to actually have reviews... O.o I honestly wasn't expecting anything. :) So, I hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry it took so long, but I had an insane weekend. Also, if you don't have time for reviews, then that's fine, :) Like I said I was totally taken aback by any at all! Though they are motivating, I have to admit. Ok, on to the story. :) Enjoy!

* * *

**

Once he had eaten enough of the eagle and drunk some more from another puddle, Smokepaw decided it was finally time to get moving. He felt a little guilty about leaving so much of the fresh-kill behind, having grown to appreciate every meal he could get. But it wasn't as if he could drag it all the way there with him; if only he could get this prey to his clan-mates, wouldn't they have been impressed. Smokepaw sighed: he might be young, but Smokepaw wasn't naive enough to think it wouldn't be long before he'd be back with his clan. And he probably wouldn't be able to drag this carcass more then up one or two ledges.

It was also this feeling that his clan was moon-lengths away that made his journey seem all the more urgent to continue, albeit that it had hardly begun enough to call it a journey yet.

Smokepaw decided that even though he couldn't get back to the place he had started out from, he had been heading in generally the same direction, sometimes up and sometimes down, but always in one direction: left. He should be able to get to the clans' path soon enough as long as he headed up and to the left as much as he could. Left had been their direction before he had fallen. Anyway, he knew he had to keep moving and that he had Nightstar to guide him if he just kept going.

So that's what he did, sending a quick prayer to StarClan that they might guide his paws. Then he faced the mountain wall behind him, scanning it critically until he found a ledge above that jutted out enough for him to latch onto and get higher up.

At first it was easy, climbing up one ledge, then down another; always to the left. Every time he started going up, hope and excitement at possibly finding the trail on the next ledge would fill his chest. Then Smokepaw would have to travel down a ledge or two and frustration threatened to take over his mind. Smokepaw had never been one for patience, or for enjoying tedious tasks. And stopping at every ledge and taking his bearings, then searching for the next one was certainly a tedious task. Not to mention how it tasked his still tender muscles. They had not fully recovered yet, though with all the stretching they were getting, Smokepaw was sure he'd be fine soon.

There was very little light in the mountains, since the mountains themselves blocked most of the sunlight from coming, and night came quickly. When you add the fact that the clouds from the previous rain were still, then it isn't all that strange that shadows were already deepening even though Smokepaw was sure it wasn't much past sun high yet. He felt irritation prickle in his mind again at the unfairness of his situations and Smokepaw began muttering to himself.

"Stupid Nightstar..." he growled under his breath, "Wha'd he save me for anyway? I'll probably just get lost and die out here eventually. Now I just..."

He didn't finish that sentence.

A low rumbling sound had begun which instantly silenced Smokepaw's mutinous mutterings. Knowing how dangerous these mountains were, Smokepaw was instantly on the alert, eyes wide and staring, nose flared, but nothing seemed strange.

Suddenly a loud _Crack!_ filled the air and Smokepaw felt the stone moving, falling beneath his paws.

"No!" he yowled, fear filling his mind with a terrifying buzz, "Not again!"

But it was too late, a large chunk in the side of the mountain fell away with Smokepaw on it, sliding with a loud grating noise over the steep cliff. Smokepaw watched in horror as the precious fox-lengths which he had painstakingly gained slipped above him as he slid below. However, he was frozen for only a moment.

A reckless fury and desperation now filled the young apprentice's chest and he made a lunge toward the wall of moving rock in front of him, latching onto the mountain side as best he could with his claws. His muscles which had been slowly recovering now shrieked a protest at being thrown into a battle with gravity so unceremoniously, but Smokepaw held on for dear life, remaining still, trying to catch his breath until the mountain seemed to stop growling like an angry cat and he felt he could more safely look around him.

It was dark down hear. Blackness with very little light surrounded Smokepaw. Strange shadows seemed to move of their own accord, sending trickles of fear up and down Smokepaw's spine. But he tried not to think about it. He had to get to safety.

Smokepaw's eyes didn't quite have enough light to see by, but as he glanced to his left he did think he spotted a dark smudge(which he thought could be a ledge) to his left. This was perfect since it was to the left that he still needed to go. If he could just stretch out his leg far enough and latch on...

Smokepaw felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand suddenly on end as the feeling that he was being watched by someone spread throughout his body. As best he could, he moved his head from side to side to see if there was any danger. However, he couldn't spot anything in particular in the moving darkness. This did not reassure him, be he knew there were other things that he needed to concentrate on that were more important.

_Mouse-brain!_ he growled at himself, _Nothing could live down here... Nothing _would _live down here... concentrate on the problem at hand, that's what Oakfur would say..._

Smokepaw looked back at the ledge he thought he could see. Concentrating with all his might, Smokepaw carefully shifted all his weight to three paws. It was difficult act in itself and the pain from his searing muscles was just about enough to send spots to his eyes again, but he gritted his teeth and got ready to make the stretch.

Very, very slowly, Smokepaw unlatched his back left paw from the mountain side to which he had been clinging to so desperately, then just as carefully and slowly, he began stretching it out. Slowly, slowly... There! His paw was touching something solid! Now, if he could just stretch a little farther...

_Just a little more..._

Smokepaw had just gotten a more solid grip onto the stone when he suddenly lost his grip with his front right paw! Without thinking, he gave himself a hard shove with his back right paw and just barely made it onto the surface of the ledge, claws still unsheathed as if he could be torn away from his new safety at any moment.

Smokepaw crouched there on the ledge, trying to calm himself enough in order to keep moving. And he knew he had to keep moving. Now that he didn't have to concentrate on staying on the ledge, Smokepaw could almost feel the malicious gaze of someone, or something watching him. Yet even though he strained and strained his eyes, turning his head in all directions, he could not see what was watching him.

Finally, he decided that he was ready to climb again. He carefully got to his paws, slightly afraid that if he moved too much then the mountain would crumble beneath him again. He started feeling along the mountain wall behind him; it was cold, dark and rough, and there weren't even shadows anymore that stood out against the blackness; Smokepaw thought that might be because the sun must have gone completely behind the mountains now. No matter how wide Smokepaw made his eyes, he still couldn't make out anything at all. This frightened him slightly; he had never been completely blind before; at least at night he had had the stars or the moon. Not to mention there was that presence that somehow seemed to see him anyway, adding to his fears.

Ah! At last, there was an out-cropping overhead, and Smokepaw felt relief as he began to make his way upward. He continued searching, sometimes going up, sometimes to the side, but he luckily never had to go down. Still the malignant stare seemed to pierce his fur. Was it getting stronger? Every time Smokepaw reached a new height, he'd glance all around but still could not spot the source of this evil.

He sighed in relief when he finally looked up could see stars; or at least a few. There were a spattering of clouds across the sky as well, but at least there was some light. Smokepaw realised that he must have fallen farther then he had originally thought since it had taken him so long to come out of the depths of the mountain. Also, he thought that maybe the mountain jutted outward over the canyon below and that was why it had been so dark before.

At any rate, Smokepaw was grateful that he could use this new feint light (the moon had not risen yet) he was able to make his ascent quicker.

Slowly, the fearful feeling of being watched dissipated until it at last disappeared all together. When it did, exhaustion fell over Smokepaw's shoulders first and then travelled over his body. His muscles almost seemed to give out from under him at that moment, having born the pressure or both his weight and the tenseness he forced upon them from being frightened.

Smokepaw remained still for a few more moments, trying to catch his breath and muster the energy to continue on for a little while longer. Then he began looking around for a shelter of some sort; he couldn't just sleep out in the open after all the experience he'd had.

He did find one eventually, albeit was nothing more then a very small bit of rock jutting out over the ledge he'd climbed up onto. Still, Smokepaw was too tired to be very picky just then and he curled up underneath as best he could, wrapping his tail over his nose. It wasn't long, despite his discomfort, before he was able to shut his eyes and fall into a sound sleep.

Meanwhile, the menacing stare had found its target again; however, it wasn't ready to strike yet. Let the prey guide him to more prey. He would wait... Oh yes, he could wait. He had been waiting for a chance like this for a long... long time...


End file.
